


The Mongrel

by Repeatinglitanies



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence, Don’t copy to another site, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-31
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:21:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24472708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Repeatinglitanies/pseuds/Repeatinglitanies
Summary: Vanya had feared she was destined to live and die alone. Until that day she was forced to accompany Mrs Kowalski to retrieve her cat.
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 27
Kudos: 186





	The Mongrel

Vanya Hargreeves might have been talented enough to become third chair at St Pluvium’s Orchestra. But no one had ever accused her of standing out. So much so that even her own colleagues have a hard time remembering her name or her face, for that matter.

Then again, their lack of recall might have something more to do with Vanya’s quiet, introverted nature and her extremely low self-esteem, which made it very difficult for her to talk, much more, socialise with her peers. So it was that no one ever remembered to invite Vanya to friendly get-togethers or the weekly drinks some of the orchestra members dutifully arranged. It wasn’t out of malice. Simply that they forgot she ever existed. 

By the time anyone realized that they had at least one violin chair missing, everyone had just assumed Vanya preferred keeping to herself. And decided to leave her in peace.

Which was far from Vanya wanted. But on the other hand, Vanya was a complex person, to say the least. This meant that being left alone was also exactly what she wanted.

Growing up neglected as the sole ordinary child in a household full of children with special (in fact, supernatural) abilities had done that to her. Vanya had always longed to be part of the pack, become a valuable and esteemed member of a group that represented something larger than herself. She wanted to be seen, to be truly cared for and loved. 

However, that wish never did pan out no matter how hard she tried. Save for Five (who had long been lost to her in what she suspected was a rebellious attempt at unauthorised time travel), none of her other siblings gave her the time of day.

It hurt even if she knew that it was understandable, given that she had nothing in common with her remaining siblings. Vanya knew nothing of clothes and make-up. Truth be told, she had just recently discovered she preferred to be as covered up as possible with long-sleeved shirts and pants rather than be draped in skirts and dresses. There certainly wasn’t anything to see with her non-existent cleavage or her equally skinny legs. Once she turned seventeen and found a place of her own, she determined never to wear skirts again.

She didn’t even bother trying to put on eyeliner or powder after the first time Mom taught her how. It wasn’t really because she found the application process especially difficult or taxing or uncomfortable. It wasn’t even because no one other than Mom and Pogo seemed to have noticed a difference. It simply was that by the first time she looked herself in the mirror with eyeliner making her eyes seem deeper, rouge giving her pale cheeks a blush she never had except on those final months Five was still with them and lipstick that made her lips look smooth and glossy, Vanya had realized the girl in the mirror wasn’t her. It was an artifice and a symbol of a young girl trying so hard to gain even a modicum of both attention and affection that she was willing to go through a process that she didn’t particularly enjoy for the hope of what she knew would prove to be little to no reward.

Besides, even if she pretended to care about fashion and how she looked in the mirror, Vanya knew that Allison and Klaus would soon catch on. Vanya was no actress. She couldn’t fake an interest. And even should she somehow manage it, Vanya just wasn’t made to keep up with deception. 

Vanya may be a good listener. But even Five knew when to spot that glazed look in her eyes when he was in the middle of his explanation of tangents and cosines. She didn’t doubt she’d have the same look should Allison and Klaus ever ask for her input on the right top to match their skirt (which they shared because Klaus had a tendency to “borrow” from Allison). But to both Vanya’s relief and disappointment, they never did ask.

It had once occurred to her that she might be able to spend time with Diego and Luther if she asked them to teach her some basic self-defence moves. Of course, Five already made sure she practiced them until she was sure she could do them in her sleep. But interest in self-defence was the only thing she really had in common with both brothers. 

Unfortunately, Luther was too busy following Dad’s every instruction and spending his limited free time with Allison to spare her much notice. While Diego just wanted to be alone or with Mom. There just wasn’t any space for Vanya in their lives.

While she once shared a love of books and storytelling with her brother Ben, the missions and the constant pressure Dad placed on the remaining members of the Umbrella Academy grew too much. To the point that it had widened the distance between her and Ben. A distance that was only matched by the temporal obstacle that kept Five away from her.

Sometimes, she wondered if anything would have changed if she tried hard enough, snuck into the trunk of Dad’s car and somehow made them take her to a mission. In her fantasies, Vanya would find a way to save the day and her family would finally see that she was one of them. A very small part of her had still believed that she could still help even if she didn’t have powers.

But Vanya always ended up banishing that notion for its sheer impossibility. Hence, even at the end on that fateful mission that took Ben’s life and effectively split up the Umbrella Academy, she didn’t do anything. More accurately, she couldn’t do anything even if Vanya somehow knew what to do.

So her life and her relationships outside of the Academy was simply a mirror to it. It wasn’t so bad. Vanya was used to always being on the outside looking in. That didn’t mean it stopped hurting.

She wanted so much to form friendships, to matter to someone. But at the same time, she was too scared to take the risk of rejection. A reminder that she was neither wanted nor needed. So she tried not to take it to heart when her colleagues forget to invite her, forget even her name. 

Maybe this was better. 

Of course, she would always double back and think otherwise. Whenever Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years and her birthday (one she shared with at least six other people) came along, she despaired at her isolation. She tried to keep the pervasive thoughts at bay. Those that tell her she would die alone and that the only reason anyone would ever realize she once existed was when they noticed the smell of her badly decomposing body.

But she was on a tragic never-ending cycle. Because whenever an opportunity to assert herself (to remind everyone she existed) appeared, she would quickly skitter away. 

To be fair, it wasn’t entirely true that no one noticed her. There had been offers to hang out and study together back when she was in college. But after the first and last time she accepted, where she found herself alone in a sea of people, counting down the clock until the time she could leave without appearing rude and in a hurry to leave, Vanya never did pluck up the courage to accept any further offers.

A part of her wanted them to keep insisting. And a part of her always felt relieved they never did.

Finding no way out of this cycle, Vanya began to accept the possibility that she would in fact live and die alone.

_____________________

The first time Vanya Hargreeves acted out of the ordinary, Vanya’s colleagues found the occurrence easy to disregard. The petite, quiet young woman who always tied her hair back was late for the first time (at least in their recollection). Vanya Hargreeves had always been a pale little thing. But she entered the hall in the middle of rehearsal, with beet-red cheeks and sweat plastering hair on her face. Most thought it due to overexertion. She must have jogged with her bag and violin case all the way from the Icarus Theater entrance. With the elevators under maintenance, she must have also taken the stairs.

To her credit, Vanya wasn’t late again. 

However, when once she was often the last to pack up her things and leave (Vanya did in fact enjoy performing on stage alone after everyone had gone home), she was now the very first out the door. 

This eventually became a habit that some have speculated that mousy Ms. Hargreeves must have a boyfriend or girlfriend. No one had ever bothered to ask her about her sexuality.

But all rumours ceased once someone remembered to invite her to weekly drinks.

To which, Vanya had to politely decline.

“Thank you but some other time, maybe,” she replied with a genuine smile. For the first time, everyone who witnessed it realized that Vanya Hargreeves was actually pretty. 

_Why haven’t I noticed her before?_ went through the minds of some of her colleagues.

The answer came almost immediately. This was the first time in living memory they had witnessed her smile at all.

“Someone waiting for you at home?” One of them managed to snap out of it long enough to try to gain more information.

“Yes, actually. I just got a dog.”

As if on cue, Vanya detected movement at her side. Followed by her bag seemingly opening on its own to reveal the furry head of the apple of her eye.

_Oh no!_

“Quincy! What are you doing there?”

She wanted to scold the little dog. But one look at his adorable puppy eyes (though Quincy had already passed that stage of development), and all she could do was smile and give him a scratch behind the ear.

All her worries and stress seem to melt away with just one look at him.

“Aww! He’s so cute!”

It also made her forget that she was still at the theater with her colleagues. Vanya tried to move away but was too late. One of them decided to reach out for Quincy.

And in an instant the cute puppy dog turned into the snarling, feral mongrel she had first met.

Fortunately, no one was harmed.

It was with great apology that she rushed out of the theater, violin case, bag and little dog in tow.

________________________

Vanya had been reluctant to accompany Mrs Kowalski to the animal shelter. Reginald Hargreeves had never allowed pets in the Umbrella Academy, even as a reward for excellent performance. Ever since leaving his guardianship, Vanya had focused her energies on getting her 10,000 hours to achieve mastery with the violin. There just wasn’t any time for her to care for another creature, given that she didn’t think she was doing a particularly good job with caring for herself.

In fact, her first encounter with a pet had been Mrs Kowalski’s cat. Mr Patches, as Mrs Kowalski called him, had a habit of escaping his owner’s home and making his way down the apartment complex. Everyone would have probably not minded, had Mr Patches not been deemed the “cat from hell.”

No one could really prove it to Mrs Kowalski (according to her, eyewitness accounts were simply hearsay). However, everyone but Mrs Kowalski knew Patches was responsible for urinating and defecating in common areas as well as the corpses of smaller, briefly unattended pets ranging from gerbils, hamsters, lizards, spiders and even kittens and puppies. And judging from the state of those poor creatures when Mrs Kowalski’s cat was done with them, Patches was a veritable serial killer.

With Vanya being her closest neighbour (and fairly easy to boss around), Vanya often got stuck with the unfortunate task of helping Mrs Kowalski find her beloved cat, even if it scratched and hissed at her every time she was near.

This time, it looked like somebody (nobody was owning up to it) within the apartment had enough and decided to take action. And Mr Patches ended up in an animal shelter most people labeled as the “Kitty and Doggy Death Row.”

And that was where she met Quincy.

To be honest, it might have been one of the most terrifying experiences of her life. When she first came face to face with him, Vanya fully believed he was going to bite her face off. Which was ridiculous given that Quincy (a mongrel that may or may not have been a mix between a chihuahua and a terrier) was the smallest adult dog in the shelter. Then again, she had just witnessed him nearly biting off his jailer/caregiver’s fingers.

And there she was, frozen in horror, as a feral dog that somehow escaped its cage and injured someone in the process made a leap towards her.

It was simply pure instinct that made Vanya catch him, not enough to prevent whatever he planned to do to her face, but enough to feel his weight. In that split second, she realized how tiny he was. 

Did the shelter even try to feed him?

To everyone’s relief, Quincy didn’t bite her face off. Instead, he was licking her. Mouth, eyes, cheeks. Vanya had to wonder what part of her face had managed to be free of doggy saliva.

But that didn’t matter. Not really.

Because in this one moment, she felt a lightness of being. It took her a split second to realize that what she felt was joy. Happy that someone, something actually cared about her and was genuinely happy she was here.

It only took Vanya one more look at Quincy to decide that she couldn’t leave him there. 

The people at the shelter were only too happy to give him to her. Quincy’s original name was actually Buster. For some reason, Vanya instantly despised that name. 

Instead, she gave him the name Mom had designated for Five, which he immediately rejected. 

Vanya wasn’t familiar with the animal adoption process. But while she was happy not to have to go through so much paperwork and bureaucracy, Vanya didn’t think it would take less than an hour to complete the adoption.

Then again, she didn’t know how much everyone in the shelter feared Quincy. They found him creepy, maybe even considered him to be the stuff of nightmares, which should be ridiculous given how small a dog Quincy was.

On the other hand, Vanya did notice how all the other dogs (even the German Shepherds, Pitbulls, and Dobermans) had their whole body on the floor as she walked by with Quincy in her arms. It was as if they were giving obeisance, not daring to raise their heads while he was in their presence.

________________________

To her, Quincy was the sweetest, little angel, intelligent and well-behaved. He let her play her music without so much as a whine. He didn’t make a mess of her apartment and actually knew how to use a human toilet. That certainly shocked and delighted her.

She wondered what sort of person Quincy’s previous owner was to have trained such a special dog only to throw him at the mercy of a high kill shelter.

Vanya knew she shouldn’t judge. But for Quincy’s sake, she couldn’t forgive whoever did this to him.

Because how could Quincy, who had quickly become the light of her life, be treated this way?

This wasn’t to say that she was as blind to Quincy’s behavioural issues as Mrs Kowalski was to Patches’. 

Quincy was wary of strangers, which basically meant anyone who wasn’t Vanya. He could behave himself well enough when her students came for lessons. But he wouldn’t hesitate to snarl at any who decide to ignore her warnings not to go near him. To be honest, that was already Quincy being nice.

In fact, she couldn’t remember the last adult male to have stepped foot in her apartment. Vanya thinks it might have been her landlord, who she had sometimes found inside her apartment uninvited. According to him, he was there to check on the place and ensure the space was well-maintained. And despite her misgivings, Vanya chose to believe him. Because the alternative was simply just too chilling to contemplate.

But Vanya had soon put that behind her. Ever since she had Quincy, she felt safer somehow. She never even saw her landlord again, not even on rent day. 

Plus, she didn’t have to deal with Mrs Kowalski or her cat again. Both seemed downright terrified of Quincy.

Perhaps it should be a cause for concern. But staring down at her little dog as he slept peacefully on her lap, Vanya just couldn’t seem to muster up the energy to care. 

Quincy loved her just as much as she loved him. And for once, she wasn’t alone. That was all that mattered.

With that thought, she carried her little dog to bed with her. Vanya had intended to buy him a doggy bed. But she never did get around to doing it. 

____________________________________

Even as he enjoyed the warmth of Vanya’s body on her bed, Quincy also known as Five promised to make the Handler pay for what she transformed him into. 

By day, he had no choice but to remain at his current form: a dog. He couldn’t turn back to his original form even if he wanted to. Good thing the other animals knew their place and left him alone. Unlike people, animals knew when they were in the presence of a more dangerous foe and acted accordingly. Even that psycho of a cat Patches (who he suspected might be in the same situation as he is) stayed away from him.

As for people like Vanya’s landlord though, Five had to rely on more overt threats. So one night, the only time he could transform back into his human form, he paid the landlord a “visit.”

But Vanya could never know. Not of his current predicament. And not of what he had to do to get back to her.

Had he come back without a doggy form, Vanya would have been the first (and probably the only one) he’d trust with his secrets, with what happened to him that fateful day he decided to time travel. But as he was now, he couldn’t bear to have her realize how low he had fallen. 

Five didn’t think he could stand to see the pity in her eyes.

To assuage his guilt at his deception, he continued the facade. The one where he was her darling, little Quincy. Because at least, that made her happy.

That was the least he could do as he bided his time. The apocalypse was a few years away. He still had time to find out what caused it all while keeping Vanya company in whatever way he can.

He hoped that was enough.


End file.
